Andyjr1515

Thanks, folks Having cut a lovely bit of ebony too short (hmmmmpfff ) I slimmed down another thick-ish piece I've had for a while. I used the jack plane to take about 3mm off and finished off with a straight sanding beam. Wrapped the truss rod in plumbers' ptfe tape (in theory, it should therefore be removable!) and then glued on the fretboard. I've said it before and I'll say it again - you can't have too many clamps! The violin spool clamps, by the way, feature in my 'most useful tools Andyjr1515 has ever bought' list They put a stunning amount of pressure onto the all important fretboard/neck edges: As always, thanks for looking Andy

Great job! Great story!

Hi, Jabba The finish on this is top-drawer stuff Simply superb....and what a line-up! Also, the LEDs are simply sublime... Andy

Never tried the bass pickups. But Tonerider are my pickups of choice for 6 strings...I fit them in preference to Gibson Burstbuckers even when cost isn't an issue (and the Gibsons are at least twice the price). The single coils are also very good. I suspect that the bass p/ups are just as good!

Great progress! I look forward to seeing this develop...

Started on the top today. First getting the basic curve with a jack plane: Then a combination of spokeshaves and scrapers to start forming the curves: Quite a bit more carving and sanding before I start on the neck but at least it is progressing! Thanks for looking Andy

Hi. I will follow this refurb with great interest . I agree - nothing wrong with laminated wood for tone. Tends to be heavy, but one of the best sounding 6string electrics I ever had - an Epiphone LP Junior - was also plywood. Andy

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1438619730' post='2835821'] Always a pleasure watching you work! [/quote] That's what my boss always used to say

Sounds like a result! Very satisfying, isn't it...

Was able to spend a decent amount of time on the bubinga bass this morning. Today's task was to break the back of the rear body carve. I rigged up my routing slide jig to be able to cut the contours: It took a while, but I ended up with a decent base to start the curve-planing: For the planing, I thought I'd try a couple of most unlikely (in my head) recent acquisitions - first is a little curved sole plane from China: ...which was a lot better than I expected, but second is the teeny-tiny Ibex plane: ...which was FANTASTIC! Unbelievably efficient, in spite of its utterly diminutive size - and bubinga is a pretty tough wood!!! Within no time, I had this...and please note that the ONLY tools I've used so far are those two planes - no scrapers, no sandpaper. Well impressed, particularly with the Ibex. Rest of the week is going to be a bit disrupted, but hope to get the top carve done in between all of the other stuff Andy

That fingerboard looks superb, Kev

Not for the faint-hearted but yes-ish. To keep the same basic shape but simply thinner, then yes. Basically, take the back off, mark the sides with a line at the desired depth equidistant from the back edge. Cut it with a japanese pull saw or similar (eg FatMax). Add some kerfing, glue the back back on To change the shape, more tricky - you would probably need to take all the braces off the back and reapply new braces cut in the correct profile to assist the back to bend to the desired shape...and you would need to work out what shape to cut the sides too...not easy.

Actually, since I bought that particular palm model, I have never used my big one since. BUT pretty essential to buy also the plunge base to go with it. The only thing I don't like is the on off switch.

Hi, Norris / BobVBass Just a point on the colours - remember that this is what the colour is like on white paper - the wood will impact the shade to a greater or lesser degree. The great thing is that you can order samples from Diamine at a very small cost so you can try a number of colours before deciding which one to go for. That said, 30ml is plenty for a body and is only a few pounds in any case BobVBass - if you are interested in this approach, I will find a thread I've done in the past. However, my experience is that it [b]doesn't[/b] work well to do the full buffing treatment. What you do instead (it is thinned down by 30% - 50% with white spirits) is get to the last coats, let it dry, then flatten it with 2000 grit wet-sanded...so far similar...but then simply apply 1, 2 or 3 VERY thin coats on top. As long as the main coats are smooth and the varnish is well thinned, it will not need any further buffing and to do so will give you unpredictable results. It does polish well, once fully dry, with good quality auto wax if you feel the need.

I use ink (Diamine has a huge range of colours and comes in small bottles ideal for a single bass) and then either Tru-oil or Ronseal Hardglaze. This is allighatt0r's Westone - this one was tru-oiled: This strat 6-string was varnished with the Ronseal: As you see, I generally veneer first, but the sides of this 6-stringer is inked straight onto the basswood. This one uses two ink colours is also Ronseal: For both varnishing and oiling, I wipe-on using cheap micro-fibre cloths. I find it less problematic than spraying.

Lovely job . And...genuine WW1 machine gun gathering dust????

[quote name='scojack' timestamp='1437402306' post='2825668'] Thanks Guys, your comments are always appreciated Still waiting on fretwire, had to send to Stewmac in the end to get the same stuff. Been seriously close to chopping an inch off the bottom horn, there's something around there im not 100% happy with. I have however, been here before and merrily got to work with a tenon saw and regretted it right after (project was binned !!) so just going to leave as is this time around, it's a very minor thing. I will fiddle with the design on paper first before (if) i build another. [/quote] Yup - definitely try with paper before getting the saw out. Bin there, done that, scrapped mine too . It looks right and balanced to me, Ian. Trouble with shortening it is that it will end up more stubby and not a reflection of the shape of the upper horn. Not necessarily wrong but definitely a different look...

Any photos?

HOORAY!!!! Progress at last It's amazing what you can get done in an uninterrupted morning! First of all, the inner control chamber was routed. I won't do the additional rout for the cover until the back has been carved. Not quite sure how I will sort a curved cover, but managed to cut some thin sheets of bubinga from an offcut with my dirt-cheap entry-level bandsaw ....and I didn't break the blade : Still with the bandsaw, I cut the neck side and top profiles and the headstock excess: Routed the slots for the pickups and cable run: ...and now it's starting to look like a bass: And here's the back (before I routed the control chamber): Next step is to start the body carve Andy

That's more like it Now that's what I call a REAL project I will follow with great interest...

Me too...and don't forget the photos

[quote name='Jabba_the_gut' timestamp='1436724152' post='2820243'] [font=Calibri][size=3][color=#000000]Hi Andy,[/color][/size][/font] [font=Calibri][size=3][color=#000000]Building has been quiet due to needing to do some DIY!! I’m still finishing off a sycamore bass – need to do the frets, a bit of wiring then a final polish and that should be about it. This one should look nice with blue LEDs on the side of the neck. I’ll post pictures when it is complete but this is where it is at currently. [/color][/size][/font] [font=Calibri][size=3][color=#000000]Cheers[/color][/size][/font] [/quote] Lovely job - as always!

Lovely....simply lovely

I use this hand exerciser - available in most music shops (it's well worn but I think it's Planet Waves). Great for warm-up or just keeping the finger strength up. In theory, you can change the tension for each finger, although weedy me has them all set on lowest

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1436986346' post='2822617'] I thought you were sticking to the MIM's Lozz, LOL!! I think a bigger neck you can adjust to. A smaller one, IMHO, is worse. I bought and sold a Road Worn Jazz in record time as the neck was giving me serious finger ache. I was getting woken in the night with it! My US P is a 2014, and it's one of the comfiest necks I've ever played. So comfy in fact, that I couldn't bear to part with it! [/quote] This ^. I think in most cases, moving to a thicker neck will just need a period of adjustment. Moving to a neck that is too thin can be a real problem...especially to the many of us heading to the early stages of arthritis...